Various arrangements are used to connect multiple pin connectors to printed conductors on circuit boards having ceramic substrates. The printed conductors are mated to welding or bonding pads on the ceramic substrate. The pads are each electrically connected to the connector terminals by various individual conductor means including nickel wire pigtails; offset metal frame conductors and aluminum or copper wiring.
Each such individual conductor has one end thereof welded or otherwise bonded to one connector terminal. When the connector is wired, its individual electrical conductors are each bonded to one of the metal pads on the ceramic substrate. The operation for connecting the electrical conductors to the metal pads is carried out one wire at a time.
One problem with this arrangement is that each metal pad measures 80.times.80 mils to 80.times.140 mils. The combined surface area of all such pads requires use of larger area ceramic substrates to accommodate both the metal pads and the population of discrete circuit components for carrying out a desired circuit operation or control function.
Another problem with such individual electrical conductors is that wire or metal frame elements are not easily connected to standard pin type connectors. The wires or metal frames also require multiple step (one at a time) connection to the metal pads.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,491,376 discloses an arrangement in which a pin type circuit board connector has a plurality of pin type connectors each of which is directly connected through spaced holes in a printed circuit board where they are soldered in place to provide an electrical interface. In the '376 arrangement a plastic housing of the connector and the metal pins expand at different rates. In order to accommodate such differential thermal expansion the pin connectors are arranged with respect to the housing walls to flex horizontally and vertically to prevent stress build up at the solder connections. This approach also requires pin holes in the substrate of the printed circuit board. Such pin holes are difficult to form in brittle ceramic substrate material. Another problem is that in order to accommodate differential thermal expansion the housing for the connector requires formation of special cavities and slip details.